Flooding in a LEDC - Bangladesh Floods, Jul-Sep 1998

Bangladesh is located in Asia and shares borders with India and Myanmar. The flood of 1998 covered two thirds of the country and the capital, Dhaka, was under 2m of water.

NATURAL CAUSES OF THE FLOOD

Bangladesh is one of the lowest lying countries in the world - 70% of it is less than 1m above sea level

80% of the country is classed as floodplain, meaning that the water does not have a considerable distance to rise before it has reached the height of the main settlements

Two of the largest rivers in the world - the Ganges and Brahmaputra - form a confluence close to Dhaka. This means that Bangladesh as an entire country has a very high drainage density, so any rain that falls quickly…